Police Seek Clues In Landscaper's Death

November 5, 1986|By Prakash Gandhi of The Sentinel Staff

Detectives were hunting for clues Tuesday in the killing of a 64-year-old landscaper in a neat, middle-class northwest Orlando neighborhood.

The body of Raymond Daniel Jr. was found Monday evening at his home at 3300 Harrison St. A family friend and a locksmith who checked the house found Daniel sitting in a living-room chair, said police Investigator Bill Mulloy.

Daniel was last seen alive in his yard between 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Mulloy said. Police were waiting for the results of an autopsy to determine the cause of death, he said.

Daniel's gray 1978 Chevrolet station wagon was found Tuesday in the 600 block of west Robinson Street in Orlando and was being examined by police. A person in the area reported first seeing the car about 6:45 a.m. Monday.

Police believe the car was taken to west Robinson after the killing but are not certain, Mulloy said.

He said there were no signs of forced entry or of a struggle. ''We have to assume at this time that whoever was in the house was invited and was known by the victim,'' Mulloy said.

Mulloy said Daniel's employers became concerned when he failed to report for work Monday.

They contacted his sister, and she and her husband visited the house but got no response when they knocked on the doors, Mulloy said.

The sister contacted a friend who lives near Daniel, and he and the locksmith went to the house to see if they could get inside, Mulloy said.

They also got no response when they knocked on the front door but saw Daniel in the chair from the front window. Mulloy said they entered the house by breaking a rear window.

He said police were trying to get Daniel's family to determine if anything was stolen from the house.

Mulloy said Daniel lived alone in the College Park neighborhood, and neighbors described him as a quiet man who liked to tend his yard.